Due to an increase in oil production and oil transportation, there is an increase in accidental oil spills. Oil spills can be both devastating and disastrous to ecological and marine environments. It can also affect physical resources, as well as a wide range of organisms that are linked in a complex food chain. This food chain also includes human food resources that are essential. Oil spills can harm living things because its chemical constituents are poisonous. Various types of freshwater and marine habitats that exist in nature have different sensitivities to the harmful effects of oil contamination, as well as different abilities to recuperate. Although some organisms may be seriously injured or killed very soon after contact with the oil in a spill, other effects are more subtle and often longer lasting. For example, freshwater organisms are at risk of being smothered by oil that is carried by the current, or of being slowly poisoned by long-term exposure to oil trapped in shallow water or stream beds. In addition, oil can potentially have catastrophic effects on birds and mammals.
Oil spills can happen in open seas, as well in navigable waterways. Moreover, damage to even a moderate sized oil tanker can result in the leakage of thousands of barrels of oil into the waters around the tanker. A blow-out in an off shore oil rig, can also result in disastrous damage to the environment, as well as the economy. Furthermore, when such oil spills occur close to a shoreline, the danger of damaging fragile environmental ecosystems is considerably higher.
One method for controlling the damage of an oil spill is with the use of oil-containment systems, where inflatable “booms” surround the spill until the oil can be collected. Boom systems prevent the spill from expanding or reaching a protected area such as a shoreline, until it can be collected by mechanical means. A typical boom system employs a plurality of boom sections joined end to end. Each boom section includes a plurality of parallel inflatable chambers that are joined with a weighted curtain. The boom sections are connected by a cable on top and by a weight member (such as a chain) on the bottom. Because boom systems can remain in water for long periods of time, there are incidents where boom sections become damaged. The damage can either be caused by objects in the water, or by strong water currents. A damaged boom can be just as disastrous as the original oil spill itself. For example, a tear in a boom can no longer contain the oil, nor can it prevent oil from reaching a shoreline.
To help detect damaged booms, environmental protection agencies require that boom systems be regularly inspected. Thus, if a breach occurs, the boom must be repaired on site. Furthermore, some repairs require removal of an entire boom section, which can span over 100 ft. in length. Ideally, once a boom section is removed, another boom section is brought in to replace it. However, the time needed to remove and replace a boom section of such an enormous length can take hours. Furthermore, once the damaged boom section is removed, contaminated water will be able to flow freely upon the shoreline. This could be disastrous as miles of shoreline and plenty of wildlife will be at risk.